Improvement in rotary steam-engines



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FRANK RHIND, OF'BROOKLYN, NEW-YORK.

Letters Patent No. 96,7729, dated November 9, 1869; autedated Novo/fiber3, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROTARY STEAM-ENGINES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK RHIND, ofBrooklyn,

in the county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, forming part of this specification,

and in which- Figure llrepresents a face or side view of a rotaryengine, constructed in accordance with my improvement, with the onecylinder-cover removed, and showing, by red lines, the valve and variouspassages.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section through the' centre of theengine.

' Similar letters of reference indicate correspondingl parts.

My improvement relates to that class of engines in whicli hingedabutinents are used in connection with a rotating piston, working withina xed cylinder, and

in which steam is brought to bear or act upon theA backs oftheabutments, to keep them in contact with the piston, that is of radialcharacter, and to allow of the piston, as it rotates, passing theabutments.

`,The invention, in this connection, consists of a combination of adouble-leaved or armed piston, with hinged abntments arranged toestablish a balance of lsteam-pressure on opposite sides of the mainshaft,

and constructed to form valves for controlling the exhaust, the sameoperating in concert with a rotating inlet-valve, attached to theengine-shaft.

Referring to the accompanying drawing- A represents `theengine-cylinder,and

B, the frame-work of the engine, to which said cylinder may be secured.

C is the main or engine-shaft, which is concentricI with the cylinder A,and is supported in suitable bearings on opposite sides thereof.

Secured to this shaft, for rotation within the cylinder, is a piston,'D,mainly of parallelogramic form, and constructed to constitute leaves orarms Dl D? on opposite sides of said shaft, said leaves or arms havingthe outerI portions of their faces rounded, as at` l This piston isrestricted to travel as indicated bythe arrow w.

E E1 E2 are hinged or pivoted abutments, having their fulcra, as at b b1b2, and struck of a curvature corresponding` to the sweep of thecylinder A, so that when closed 'they fit into recesses c c1 c2, andform a continuation, as it were, of the interior surface of thecylin'der.

Said abutments, whichare arranged at equal dis- `cavities e e1 c2, whichcommunicate with a general exhaust-passage F, made in or around the onecylindercover J, and having its outlet, as at f.

Steam, to drive the engine, is admitted by an aperture or passage, g, toa valve-box, G, which has arranged within it a valve, H, of circularcharacter, being made up of sector-shaped plate-like surfaces h h, andmade fast to the engine-shaft, so as to `rotate with it.

This valve works on or against a suitably-ground face of the onecylinder-cover J', and, as it rotates, serves to open and close orcontrol, in regular 4and timely order, inlet-ports t il tz, whichcommunicate, by radial passages k k1 k2, with cavities m m1 m2 in thecylinder A,vat or near the ends of the recesses c cl c2,

into which the forward portions of the abutments E cavities m mlm?, and,by the tail-ends d d* di), 'of the abutments, to open theexhaust-cavities c e1 e2, in such manner as that the steam within thecylinder has a counteracting force or pressure on opposite sides of theengine-shaft.

The abutments also operating as valves to control the exhaust, andthereceiving-valve being fast to the engine-shaft, so as .to rotate withit, the timely admission of steam through the several inlet-ports, andpassage of spent steam to the exhaust, to keep up theibregoing-specilicd action on the piston, are effected automatically,without the aid of special valve-gear. o

0f course, such of the working parts, as necessary, may be suitablypacked, and provision, in various ways, be made for obtaining a reversedriving-motion from the engine.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is`

The arrangement of the valve H, with reference to the inlet-passages KKl K2, piston D, and abutments l E E1 E2, substantially as shown anddescribed.

FRANK RHIND'.. Witnesses:

FRED. HAYNEs, J. W. OooMBs.

